Ford Australia: The most famous Falcon

The Falcon has been a pop culture icon, but none more iconic than the Mad Max Interceptor

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Ford Australia: The most famous Falcon

23 Sep 2016David Morley

Bob the plumber in A Country Practice drove a Falcon ute. Sonny's dad, ranger Matt Hammond drove a Falcon station wagon in Skippy. And just about every Australian made cop show – starting with Homicide – has featured the Ford Falcon as transport for the goodies or the baddies. Usually both.

Away from the small screen and you might remember the Falcon GT-HO replica in the Aussie B-flick Running on Empty. More recently, it was Eric Bana's own, beloved XB Falcon Hardtop that was the star turn in the movie Love the Beast. Yep, the Ford Falcon has featured in local pop culture like no other car.

And making all those other appearances seem like cameos is one particular Ford Falcon; a mean, black XB Hardtop with a belt-driven supercharger and four exhaust pipes poking out from each side. And with Mel Gibson as revenge-crazed cop Max Rockatansky at the wheel, that black XB Coupe – the last of the V8 Interceptors, according to the script – launched the Falcon's popularity into orbit in the 1979 low-budget movie, Mad Max. Teamed with the blue, red and yellow Falcon Interceptors, the black Hardtop meshed a whole generation of Aussie film-goers with their opposite number from the world of the petrol-head. And a legend was born.

Not much love was given to the vehicles themselves during the filming of the original Mad Max film, nor even the 1981 sequel. In fact, rumour has it that Max's Interceptor was abandoned on a scrap heap when filming of Mad Max 2 finished at Silverton, a short distance from Broken Hill in outback NSW. Fortunately, it was rescued, restored and saved from the crusher. Unfortunately, by then it was also four-wheeled royalty thanks to the success of the Mad Max franchise, and it ended up in a car collection in Florida in the US after allegedly changing hands for more than $1million.

Mad Max Falcons Photo: Cristian Brunelli

But that hasn't bothered an army of Mad Max crazies who have taken it upon themselves to recreate both the V8 Interceptor, the red, blue and yellow cars and even Max's Holden panel-van. So we decided to drive a pair of these recreations to see what the fuss is all about.

So let's start with the multi-coloured sedan that was the type of Interceptor Max was driving as a highway patrol cop before he was enmaddened by having his wife and baby mown down by a gang of bikies. The car itself is mechanically fairly unmodified and that gels with the ethos of the film production team who knew full well that the cars would probably end up being smashed to pieces in the ensuing stunts. There's also a rumour that the entire bill for the cars for Mad Max ran to between $12,000 and $14,000, so that didn't leave much room for exotic modifications.

So the 351 cubic inch (5.8-litre) V8 engine is standard, but ironically, this very car started life as an actual Victorian Police Highway Patrol car. It remained in the service for the usual couple of years from 1976, then spent a small amount of time in civvies before being converted to an Interceptor way back in 1980. But its time as a police car ensured that it was fitted with the stronger FMX automatic transmission and the vaunted Ford nine-inch rear end.

It drives pretty much the same as any XB Falcon, but with less wear evident. Perhaps being converted to an Interceptor so early in life saved it from the usual, shabby treatment meted out to most other XB Falcons as they aged and became yesterday's heroes.

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The body kit is fibreglass and ill-fitting (the camera hides many sins, so the actual movie cars were never very well finished) and the wheel-arch flares look odd with the relatively skinny front tyres. Inside, there's the Main Force Patrol (MFP, the equivalent of the Highway Patrol in the movie) radio unit on the roof console which is guaranteed to skin your forehead most days, and a huge red and blue revolving light lives on the roof. There' a siren, too, which not only works, but sounds very contemporary.

But let's now cut to the chase – literally – and jump inside the black Coupe. The radio unit is the same malevolent fitment and the bodywork is no less haphazard than the other car. The steel wheels painted black smell of silver-screen expediency, but that's also all how it was on the original, so that's hardly a criticism.

The supercharger on this car – as it was on Rockatansky's car – is a fake; it has an electric motor that can be switched on and off to give the impression of the supercharger cutting in and out. And those side-pipes are actually functioning, although there's a clever by-pass valve which blanks them off for driving on public roads.

And what engine does Mad Max's coupe have? Well, the movie never really spells it out beyond the car being a V8. In this case, that translates to a 460 cubic-inch (7.5 litre) engine, known in the trade as a big-block…for obvious reasons. The biggest departure from the real Mad Max Interceptor in this one is the transmission; Max's was a four-speed manual, this one is a three-speed automatic.

With its lowered suspension, fat tyres and a lack of power-steering, the black car is a bit of a brute to drive. But flip the lever to open those side-pipes, give the big block a squeeze of the throttle and you can't help but grin as you roll along. And so will everybody else who sees it. You can't stop for petrol or a pie or to handcuff a bikie to a burning car wreck without attracting a crowd and even the police seem to love it. It is, without a doubt, the most famous Aussie movie car of all time. And Australian pop culture will never see its like again.

The owners.

MFP Interceptor – Peter Robinson.

Peter runs a panel-beating business, so has no trouble keeping the car up to scratch cosmetically. He's owned the car since 1992 and has freshened it up mechanically over the years which is probably why it drives so nicely.

"I'm just a mad Mad Max fan. I don't know how many times I've seen the movie…hundreds probably. Mad Max 1 and 2 were the pick of the films, they lost the plot after that. I get pulled over by the cops a lot. They know what it is and they always just want to take photos and have a look."

Max's V8 Interceptor – Peter Axford

Peter has owned his Interceptor for 14 years and admit that he's "just obsessed" with the whole Mad Max lifestyle.

"I saw it (the movie) as a kid and I've just loved it. Forever. Owning it has opened a lot of doors for me; I've toured Japan where the whole Mad Max thing is just huge. I bought the car half-finished; it was a bit of a dodgy thing, though. Now, I often get stopped by the cops, but there's never any hassle. Half of them say to me: 'This car and that film are the reasons I joined the police force'. How's that?"